laughed. ‘Not if you don’t want to. When you get to the pushing stage, you can swap the ball for the stool in the shower.’
‘Won’t the doctor mind?’
‘No, the doctor won’t mind.’ Max’s voice came from behind the bathroom door and they all looked up. Georgia felt that warm pleasure she was beginning to associate with Max’s presence.
His voice came again. ‘Hi, Mel. I’m Max Beresford, the doctor on call. Sister can come out when she’s ready and fill me in. You keep doing what you’re doing.’
Georgia and Mel exchanged smiles and Georgia slipped out of the door.
Max watched her shut it behind her. ‘Hello, Sister,’ he said. In his mind he said, hello you gorgeous thing. His stomach dropped as she smiled up at him. She looked incredible.
Her eyes were shining with anticipation and yet her movements were calm and unhurried and she exuded an aura of confidence in the natural progression of events.
He fancied her badly. The tension on his side was building every minute that he was with her. Over the last few, amazingly wonderful weeks in Byron they had become closer than ever.
He knew she still needed recovery time, and he needed to give her that to have any chance for her to trust herself fully to a man again—and he wanted that more than anything.
She was way too vulnerable to make any physical demands on, he could tell by her body language if he even brushed against her, and no matter how much he ached to hold her and make her his, she had to be the one to initiate any change in that.
He had to protect himself too because all he could see on her side was appreciation of the safe harbour he provided and he was becoming more fascinated every day.
Even knowing she would be at work today was distracting but worth the opportunity to see her during the day. He hadn’t been able to stay away once he’d known that it was Georgia’s first morning back at work.
She was looking at him with that tiny frown he wanted to smooth away with his fingers, and he pulled himself back into the present. She expected him to say something, not stand there like a goose. ‘So here I am. Were you going to call me at all?’
She looked at him quizzically. ‘Yes, Doctor.’
Maybe she wasn’t sure if he was serious so he smiled to reassure her.
‘Mel sounds fine. I’m here before I go into the rooms for my day patients. I’ve read your notes and you’re obviously happy with her progress and condition. Do you want me to say hello to her or just leave it until later?’
‘Would you mind popping your head in to say hi now? I don’t think she’ll be long anyway, and it’s better than meeting when the baby is here.’
Before Max could even open the door they heard Mel’s voice. ‘Georgia-a-a.’
Georgia stepped back into the bathroom and rested her hand on Mel’s shoulder. ‘It’s OK. What’s happening?’
‘In the middle of that pain I wanted to push, but the feeling has gone now.’
‘That’s fine. Each pain will probably give you that feeling for a longer time and then it will come to the stage when you won’t be able to do anything but push.’
Mel nodded.
Georgia went on. ‘It’s all good.’
Mel chewed her lip. ‘I remember I hated this part last time.’
‘That’s OK. You might have been scared because your body is taking over. Don’t hate it. Work with it and listen to your body.’
‘I’m trying.’
‘You’re doing amazingly well.’ Max’s quiet voice came from the door.
‘You can come in,’ Mel said with half a smile in the pause between contractions. ‘I really don’t care if the world’s in here and at least you can help me if I need it.’
They could hear the smile in Max’s voice. ‘Which you won’t as Georgia is there and you’re all doing so well. I won’t come in unless you or Sister call me.’
The pains increased their intensity and soon Mel was pushing gently with each urge. The next minute she looked up at Tim and glared at him. ‘I want to move. Get me out of the bathroom.’
That was a good sign. Georgia smiled as Tim almost fell over in his hurry to do what Mel asked. They stood and she moved between pains towards the bed. Mel looked up once as she passed Max and nodded to him.
‘Hi, Doctor,’ she said briefly.
By the time she’d eased herself back on the bed her baby was almost ready to be born, and Tim had paled to an interesting shade of alabaster.
‘That’s the way to do it, nice and slow.’ Georgia helped Mel lean back onto the beanbag and slipped her gloves on.
Max stood back and watched Georgia. She had it all under control, brilliantly. He’d suspected she would be a great midwife and the last few minutes had proved that.
Mel’s next pain came and with her steady breathing, the baby’s head crowned and then extended, until only the shoulders remained to be born.
When the first shoulder came through, Georgia guided Tim’s hands down and encouraged him to lift his own baby up onto Mel’s chest as he was born.
Max stared at the sight of a loving father’s hands lifting his son onto his wife’s breasts, and the pain seared him unexpectedly, like a blow torch in his chest.
He would never do that for his own child. He would probably never share such a look as Mel and Tim shared at that moment.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Tim said, as he stared down at his baby. ‘It’s a boy. I’ve got another son! My Billy.’ He swooped down to kiss Mel. She laughed up at him and they both had their hands on their new son.
‘There you go. Eight thirty-one a.m.’ Georgia checked the clock and then she looked at Max.
He smiled back at her but there was such a wealth of sadness behind his eyes that her breath caught and she wanted to comfort him for something she didn’t understand.
Then the look was gone as if it had never been. Maybe she had been mistaken and he was just tired.
Max moved to the baby and placed his stethoscope on the baby’s back to listen to his chest as he lay against his mother. He stepped back and nodded.
‘Baby sounds great. Congratulations, Mel and Tim.’
Georgia watched his gentle handling of baby and realised she knew so little of this man who was legally her husband and here they were together at such a special event and yet she still didn’t know what he was thinking.
Georgia glanced down at the thick shiny umbilical cord and suddenly a tiny gush of blood indicated probable separation from the uterus. They were ready to complete the final stage of labour.
If
